Deal Details

For those who purchased a Verizon smartphone after the unlimited data ended, you can still get unlimited data by calling *611 and asking them to add unlimited MHS. A 4G phone is required. You may have to be persistent, and it may take several calls, but I was able to do it with one call. A "perk" of adding unlimited MHS is that you will be pushed to unlimited data as well, according to the rep I talked to. I checked online, and sure enough, my friend's account that I was trying it on had unlimited data and unlimited MHS. If at a future time, you feel you do not need MHS, you can cancel mhs (you can do it online) and it has been reported that you still keep unlimited data.

When i talked to the rep, at first, he was trying to get me to switch to a data plan that had data and mhs. This is not what you want, you want to have the mhs as a feature addon.

ymmv of course on these types of promos.

edit: mhs = mobile hot spot $30/mo addon feature. as said before, you can remove it any time and your unlimited data should remain.
The $30 is for the month, if, say you use it for 15 days, then it will be prorated to $15 and so on.

Edit looks like some are able to do it with 3G phones as well, unlimited data but 2gb mhs.

Community Wiki

Wait for computer CSR to go through the main menu. You will need your Verizon phone # and account PIN or last 4 of SSN.

Hit option 4.

When it asks you what you would like to do today say "Add a feature." You will be transferred to a live Verizon Customer Service representative.

If you have a 3G device (which includes all iPhones): Say you would like to add the $20 2GB 3G Mobile Hotspot FEATURE to your phone. When you add this MHS feature, you will be charged $20/month in addition to the $29.99 unlimited data plan.If you have a 4G device: Say you would like to add the $30 Unlimited 4G Mobile Hotspot FEATURE to your phone. According to http://stopthecap.com/2011/07/12/...r-account/ , they may be able to locate this feature via referencing feature code #76153. When you add this MHS feature, you will be charged $30/month in addition to the $29.99 unlimited data plan.

After one of the MHS features above are added to your account, you will now have the $29.99 unlimited data plan, which can be verified via the My Verizon app on your device or at http://www.verizonwireless.com/myverizon

{OPTIONAL - if you don't want the Mobile Hotspot feature} Log into My Verizon and remove the Mobile Hotspot FEATURE from your account. It is recommended to wait at least a day to remove the feature. The $29.99 unlimited data plan should remain on your account.

If they say they can't add that feature to your plan, or that you must bundle your data + mobile hotspot service together as a single data plan, tell them thank you, hang up, and repeat the steps above.

However, people are still reporting success. There have not been any official statements from Verizon about closing this loophole, and only one person in the articles above reported being reverted back to a tiered data plan.

This happened to me about a month ago and I thought it was just an isolated mistake for Verizon. I added the double your data in online chat when they first offered it. The next day I noticed my cap had changed from not 2 GB to 4 GB but from 2 GB to Unlimited! However, the online rep must have accidentally added mobile hotspot as well since my bill was $60 more my next month. I called and angrily asked them to take off the mobile hotspot and credit me, which they did. The Unlimited data remains though... And I won't call and ask why Even my bill changed from $30 for data to $29.99 to data like the grandfathered unlimited data people.

yes, as i said in the op, you can cancel mhs and it has been reported that you keep unlimited data. also, those who use lots of data, it may be cheaper even if you keep the unlimited data and mhs vs. using tiered.